Phoenix
by CrazyRandomMusician
Summary: Fem!Prussia fights Canada during the war, mourns after the war, and searches for the love she's certain she has lost.
1. First Appearance

It was war. Of course, it was it was always war. Humans were never quite done fighting no matter how tired of it they claimed to be. Prussia contemplated her current situation. Over the last few weeks, she had been fighting different battles in her Bruder's war almost constantly. Whether on an emotional front or a physical one, it didn't seem to matter. All of this fighting was putting a damper on her awesomeness. Not the fighting part of it, no, of course it wasn't that, but rather it was how all of this was affecting her little bruder. She was worried about him and that was an un-awesome feeling to have for very long. Though his boss said it was for his own good Prussia was inclined to disagree.

_"Just leave it be East!" snapped Germany. _

_"No! An awesome older sister like me takes care of her baby brother, West!" Prussia screamed back. _

_Germany switched to an almost eerily calm voice, "You'll be protecting me best by going out there and helping end this war." _

_Prussia glared at her bruder, he wasn't going to listen to any argument she made, might as well do something useful with her time. Turning on her heel, Prussia marched out of the bare office silently thinking that she would go pound-no, train some soldiers. _

Prussia recalled the argument with some frustration. As she walked along kicking a rock in front of her it registered somewhere in her mind that walking alone in the forest at night probably wasn't a wise idea but she dismissed the thought, She really needed the time alone, to think and to breathe without having to worry about anything other than breathing. As she approached a clearing Prussia thought she saw someone standing alone looking skywards. His hair reminded her of France except for one wayward curl of hair and the fact that he seemed to have a quiet air about him, very different than her favourite flamboyant Frenchman.

However, when she blinked the figure was gone leaving her to wonder if she had imagined it. Maybe, she thought, I need some sleep more than I thought I did, but she proceeded to do a thorough scouting of the clearing just in case someone actually was there. After finding no trace of anyone, she took one look up at the stars, gave a heavy sigh, and promptly turned and walked back towards camp.

From the shadows, a figure watched her retreat.

"That was close," whispered a voice that could very well have just been a gust of wind, "I really need to be more careful." Chuckling lightly the figure retreated in the opposite direction Prussia had gone. "Just imagine what Arthur would have said if I had gotten myself captured, eh? And by a pretty girl too. Ah, I never would have heard the end of it." The figure paused and took on a thoughtful air, "Though maybe they'd forget about it if I…" The figure continued walking his voice trailing off into silence leaving the thought hanging unfinished in the air.

Prussia meanwhile was also talking to herself as she lay down intent on sleeping as long as possible.

"Leave it to me to me to conjure up such a cute guy though. Kesesesese. Life's cruel and unfair but…" Prussia muttered sleepily losing the battle for consciousness before she could finish her thought.

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*~* A/N: UNFINISHED THOUGHTS! 'Cause I don't really know how to end those sentences. Use your imaginations; pretend it's a fill in the blank. *~*


	2. A Short Fight

On the battlefield, Prussia mused, he seemed a lot more substantial. They had both been on the frontlines and as such saw each other right away. He shot her a smirk and she returned with one of her own. As they clashed and the rest of the battle moved around them, it became apparent to Prussia that the young man was a personified country just as she was.

"So," she drawled slowly as they duelled, "Who're you?"

Visibly flinching at her words the young man seemed to reply but Prussia didn't hear a single sound. Even when he flinched, he kept up a complete defence not allowing Prussia to hit him at all.

"Quiet one aren't you?" she jeered hoping but not really expecting he would slip up. Again his mouth moved but she didn't hear a thing over the battle going on around them. It wasn't even possible to read his lips because their fight prevented her from being able to study his face. What she did see though she found, well, intriguing.

The young man had no real similarities to France other than his hair and even that was a darker honey colour. Prussia also noted he possessed the cold violet eyes characteristic usually of northern nations. Rather pretty eyes, she mused, not as awesome as my ruby red ones but unique in their own way.

While they fought, he had such a look of determination on his face that Prussia had to wonder what it was he was fighting for. Snapping from her musings Prussia realised that they had lost ground. The shock from this revelation gave the blond the upper hand against his albino opponent. The blond pinned Prussia on the ground. Prussia knew when it was a good time to make a tactical retreat. Now was that time. Her left arm was still free and she took advantage of this and threw some dirt into the young man's face. Scrambling back her and her men made their escape.

When the blond got the dust out of his eyes he once again found himself watching her retreating figure and Prussia found herself wondering who this kid was. Who was he that he gained the upper hand over her? Her, the awesome Prussia! Prussia decided that she would have to interrogate her brother about this mystery country she seemed to know nothing about.

* * *

*~* A/N: So. NO HISTORICAL ACURACY. Don't even pretend it's there. I have done zero research and I'm pretty much making things up as I go. Pretty much, there is reference to a real war but other than that, this could be like an AU. *~*


	3. Things Happen Quickly

"Who?" asked Germany genuinely puzzled.

"That's what I'm asking you!" cried Prussia exasperated.

"Hm…well…"hummed Germany thoughtfully.

"Yes?" asked Prussia impatiently.

"Give me a minute to think, East!" Germany sighed and massaged his temples, "I think I remember some country called Canada joining the Allies recently, he is…was…England's ward. Before that, he was a French colony. He is a young country yet and I believe he is also America's brother. Power wise he shouldn't be too strong as his troops probably lack experience and proper training."

"Okay…" Prussia sung thoughtfully, "This is ringing some bells. I remember England, France, and Spain having their imperialist period. All that blabber about "The New World" coming from France and Spain. So you're saying he's one of those kids?"

"Yes."

"But you said he shouldn't be too strong and yet he beat me."

"I would put it down to beginner's luck."

"How oddly superstitious of you, West," teased Prussia. "Oh well! Next time I see him I'll just have to give him a proper beating so he understands the awesomeness that is Prussia!" Cackling maniacally Prussia jogged once again out of her Bruder's office. Germany sighed and shook his head; he really wanted to go home and take a nice hot shower.

It turned, somehow, into some kind of twisted competition between the two. Some battles Canada won and others Prussia kicked his ass. Honestly, Canada didn't have the experience other nations did but he had so much determination that it kind of made up for the lack of experience.

After a particularly bloody beating Canada took at Germany's hands Prussia didn't catch sight of him for a while. It was only later when she found herself back in a familiar clearing that she saw him again. Canada had seemingly passed out on the ground and was spread-eagled in a patch of sunlight completely oblivious to the awesomeness that had just approached. Well that won't do, thought Prussia. So she tip toed over and kicked him in the side. With an oof and an exclamation of surprise he sat bolt upright clutching his side. Whipping his head around he caught sight of Prussia and she smirked at him and waved. He smiled weakly and raised his hands in the universal sign of surrender. Prussia's grin grew and she flopped down on the grass beside him lying down with her hands behind her head.

"Don't worry I'm off duty right now." Canada gave her a disbelieving look and she continued, "Look, I don't feel like beating you down right now. And I came out here to relax as well so if you don't rat me out I won't say anything about you letting your guard down in enemy territory like that. Deal?"

"Deal," replied Canada lying back down shoulder to shoulder with Prussia, "Why'd you have to kick me? I was sleeping well for the first time in what seems like years." Startled slightly by how quietly he talked Prussia replied with all her usual enthusiasm.

"Well, I needed to announce my awesome presence to you since you didn't seem to notice it on your own. By the way where have you been? I think I should get points because you were gone so long."

Canada rolled his eyes at her and replied in his whispery voice, "I was gone for so long because your brother beat me down so bad. And no, you don't get any points for my absence, I'm on sick leave."

"Whatever." They lay there in silence for a while completely comfortable in each other's presence despite being enemies. "Wait you said you're on sick leave? As in present tense?" looking at him she saw his hand was still resting on his right side.

"Yup. I've still got all my stitches in and some beautiful black and purple bruises."

"Stitches? Why aren't you resting at your base?"

Canada laughed, "Like it's possible to rest around those guys."

Prussia smiled and both of them just lay there enjoying the silence and relative peace while it lasted. Eventually though, right when Prussia was starting to nod off, Canada stood up and offered her a hand up. Prussia accepted the hand and felt her heart flutter just slightly when she looked up at his face.

"I need to go back. I suppose I'll be seeing you around though. Goodbye."

"Yeah…" Prussia mumbled weakly and waved as he disappeared off through the foliage. What was that twinge? Surely, she the awesome Prussia wasn't falling for the enemy. No, of course not she told herself. As she headed back to camp though she couldn't help but hope that she wouldn't have to pound his face into the ground the next time she saw him.

As luck and fate would have it the next week she saw Canada, Prussia and was on orders to fight him but she caught him by surprise when they were both alone. He tensed completely unprepared for a fight and Prussia charged him. With a quick sidestep he dodged around her but she still managed to clip him in the side. He took off running and Prussia was quick to pursue. It wasn't a hard run by any means but Canada was holding his right side just shortly after the two took off. Curious as to why that would be Prussia's question was answered when she saw red begin to blossom from the area. In confusion Prussia called out to him.

"Seriously? I didn't hit you that hard!"

Canada shouted back just loud enough for Prussia to catch what he said, "No but you managed to reopen a wound from earlier. It wasn't done healing yet." Prussia felt a twinge of guilt for that but war was war so it was quickly crushed and Prussia picked up the pace intent on catching her prey.

Suddenly thought the tree line of the woods they had been running through cut off and a cliff edge loomed before them. Prussia put on the brakes just in time but Canada either didn't see it soon enough or didn't manage to stop in time because he went flying over the edge. Panic gripped Prussia heart and she raced to the edge of the cliff and looked down in time to see him smile at her one last time before becoming a messy splat on the ground. Grief overwhelmed Prussia and she screamed his name though it came out as just a bone-chilling scream.

Germany was stationed not too far away and when he heard his sister's cry he left Japan standing alone and took off at a sprint towards the sound. When he arrived just minutes later, he found her curled up in a ball on the ground sobbing. Not knowing what else to do Germany picked her up bridal style and set off back towards where he had left Japan. All he heard from his sister the whole time were unintelligible sobs and the word dead.

* * *

*~*A/N Well this story is starting off fast paced...it might not end up being very long at all...I guess we'll see. *~*


	4. Retirement Party

Prussia sat alone in her room. After what had happened, her bruder asked her who was dead and she couldn't answer. She couldn't answer over the grief and the shame, shame for caring so deeply about someone who was the enemy.

Not caring what had upset his sister only that she got better Germany gave her a safe, quiet room in his house for her to stay in until she felt better. So for weeks Prussia stayed cooped up in her room. What she was doing didn't really make sense to anyone, not even her.

Time flowed past Prussia in a way she didn't quite understand and the war ended. As part of the losing side she owed the winners. She was separated from her brother and sent to work for Russia. The result of that experience was her disliking Russia even more than she had previously and her being much more appreciative of her brother's personality. Russia made her do whatever stupid mindless task he could think of, she was like a slave.

It was a painfully long and cold span of time in Prussia's memory but everything felt a little bit too dull, as if her senses were a hunting knife that hadn't been sharpened in years. Of course, she still kept written record of everything as was her habit so the memories were always accessible but Prussia didn't think she personally would ever have much use for them.

Eventually, Prussia was reunited with her brother and retired as a country.

Prussia was unsurprisingly wounded by and slightly proud of the way in which she was retired. It was some official seeming meeting and everyone was really nervous. The concerned countries were all gathered together in a dimly lit and oppressive courtroom styled space. Nobody was sure what would happen. Most of the gathered had never seen what the end of a country did to a personification before and were understandably concerned. Prussia herself did her best to contain her own worry and project confidence. It helped that Germany hadn't quit fussing all morning and acting braver than she felt was easier if it was to help calm him down.

America took charge of the proceedings, listing off various facts and points and trying to be mature and serious. His age didn't help him achieve this in the slightest but everyone was already very on edge so it didn't matter.

Partway through when Prussia started to get bored, realising nothing was happening yet, she noticed that all the countries that had been involved in the war were gathered and for a moment a flower of hope bloomed in Prussia's chest.

It was swiftly crushed when she saw no sign of Canada anywhere in the room. Only France had hair anything like Canada in the room, she looked for his face in case he had changed his hair but still she saw no sign of him. A silent tear leaked from the corner of Prussia's eye and she jerked back into her present situation. Germany looked physically stunned by his sister's tears and Prussia realised that America had just finished speaking and the whole room had gone silent.

Momentarily she felt it. It was a slight shift but a life changing one. Prussia felt in her bones that she had lost something important, she felt a consuming despair, and she felt a pain that wasn't quite physical but that torn through her whole body so strongly that she thought it would have been better if it was. Then in the face of what she felt she had lost she collapsed on the ground.

Germany jumped to her side and immediately began checking her pulse. Prussia had the urge to push him off and tell him to go away but she couldn't summon the words. Tears began to stream down Prussia's face and she hid it in her brother's shoulders. Germany picked her up and with a curt nod to the assembled nations, left the room.

On the drive home Prussia sat curled up silently in the back seat of her bruder's new car. The feeling had faded to become a consuming ache. Germany's face was set into a tense half frown. Prussia watched his face with detached interest for a while until her thoughts strayed back to her retirement, as she decided then to call it, because she wasn't dead but she had no idea what she was supposed to do with herself. Now that it was over she wondered at how high her hopes had risen at the thought that Canada would be there and then how far they had fallen when he wasn't. Her heart gave a twinge at the thought of the blond boy she had once known and she felt that some of her heart ache could be attributed to absent blond.

At that moment Prussia felt deep in her heart for why she felt how she did. Deep in her heart she felt the change that had taken place. It was such a small change that she actually laughed and her bruder almost swerved off the road. She uncurled and stretched out on the seat thinking she wasn't any less Prussia then she had been before. The only thing that had happened was they had taken her official title away; her people didn't magically stop being Prussian. Yes there was a mentality change but it was slight and they weren't gone. She knew, with a saddening certainty, that there wouldn't be Prussian people forever but she supposed that meant maybe she's get to see all the Nations who had dissolved before her or maybe that she was like her people now and would grow old and die with them. Neither of those thoughts seemed too bad to Prussia.

Prussia smiled to herself happy that she was okay for now. Having assessed that though she was forced to look deeper for what had caused her the amount of pain she was in. Looking even deeper Prussia admitted, reluctantly, to herself that she missed Canada. Through all her battles she had never actually seen a nation be killed so she didn't know if Canada was okay. After the shock of watching him fall had worn off she had secretly harboured a small hope that he would be okay, after all, there were still Canadians. Not seeing him at her retirement had really crushed that hope. Upset by this apparent vulnerability Prussia rolled over to face the front of the car frowning.

There was no reason to be this attached to him, none at all. Besides she didn't know what happened when a nation's personification was killed so maybe she was curious. Maybe the nation just went on with itself without a personification or maybe the personification was reborn or replaced by a new personification. The birth of a personification was a very ambiguous subject too. Prussia thought maybe, just maybe Canada had healed, with whatever magic gave them extended lives. Prussia wanted to believe that but she couldn't let herself get her hopes up so she pushed the thought away and closed her eyes to sleep.

Prussia was woken up by her bruder shaking her with a mild look of panic on his face. After her nap Prussia was feeling much more like herself and gave her brother an annoyed look.

"West I'm fine! Quit shaking me," she scolded.

Germany drew back his hand and looked at her carefully. Prussia rolled her eyes at him and walked into the house. She supposed they would share it now. Not that she had slept in her own house since the end of the war anyways but it was weird for Prussia to think that it probably wasn't her house anymore.

* * *

*~*A/N: I think there's slang that shouldn't be there and issues concerning events that don't quite match up in regards to time frame. I don't even know what I just said. Man, just… I'm sorry. Really*~*


	5. Things Get Emotional

Prussia became a recluse. Most of her time was spent in her bruder's house working on various projects in the basement. Tinkering with guns or clockwork for hours on end, most days she only remembered to eat and sleep because Germany reminded her. If the weather was nice she would go sit outside in the garden or sometimes, much less frequently, she would take a walk and lay on the grassy hill a couple miles away and nap in the sun. Rarely would she do any gardening, mostly she would just sit there, staring off into the sky.

It occurred to her that this change in mannerism might be harder on her bruder than if she had just died. One day over breakfast she asked him.

"Bruder?"

"What is it East?" Prussia hated that he seemed to be treating her with kiddy gloves. She hated that she couldn't find the motivation to change so he wouldn't stop. At least the hate was something, she thought.

"Do," Prussia realised that she couldn't say it she didn't want to be gone. All she wanted was to stop feeling so empty and useless. Something caused her to continue though, it was curiosity, and that was refreshing. So much so that when Prussia continued she had a much brighter tone. It was still a dull echo of what it used to be but it was something.

"Bruder, honestly, do you hate who I am now?"

Germany stared at her with concern.

"East, sister, no. I have honestly not once thought that. All I am is worried about you but I don't know what I can do to help you," Germany trailed off as he said the last part, looking more defeated than Prussia ever wanted to see her bruder look.

"Oh West…" he continued to look at his breakfast. Prussia took a steadying breath, "I'm sorry," he looked up at her surprised, "I just feel so useless. What am I supposed to do now? I have no country to live for…"

"Sister, I think that nothing has actually changed."

"Huh?"

"Really, what did you even do before? I've done all the hard work for years now. Why not just do what you did before?"

"Tch, you're suddenly really sassy West," Prussia said and crossed her arms, "but I don't…"

"Listen, if it's that much of an issue to you. You can work for Germany."

"What?" Prussia blinked, shocked.

"I don't imagine you'll actually be that much help so my workload will be about the same but if it gives you some purpose maybe we can talk to my boss and you can work with me."

"Wait," Said Prussia excited but not wanting to get her hopes up, "but we can't split Germany again! Everyone just got together!"

"I'm not saying we should do any official split," explained Germany with a hint of irritation. "What I'm suggesting is that you work with me, that way it keeps all the legal papers the same but gives you something to work for. It can be like a part time job, I'll be in charge but you can do things to help out too."

"West…" Prussia muttered feeling so much gratitude.

She promptly stood up causing her bruder to also ride from his seat and full body tackle-hugged him.

"Thank you," she whispered.

For the next few months the legality of Prussia working under Germany was discussed and discussed again, and again, and again. Until Prussia stormed out of a room and punched a wall before re-entering the room feeling the most like herself that she had in what seemed like forever. Eventually everything was settled though and Prussia had a job for what she now considered at partially her country.

Germany was right, she did mostly what she had been doing before but she felt the motivation that he had lacked just knowing that she could, and would be able to do something to help the citizen of her bruder and her. She got back into reading and kept better journal entries than she had in a while and these two activities alone made Prussia feel better by leaps and bounds.

The walks Prussia took during the nice days became longer until she was pretty much taking day long excursions into the countryside when she felt like it. These long walks didn't always happen but Prussia began at least go out every day for some fresh air. This developed quickly into a regular workout for Prussia getting back into her old training regimen.

It hadn't actually seemed like that long since she had trained but once Prussia started again she became all too aware of how long she had actually taken off. Germany became a training partner again and she was pretty sure he was as glad for someone who actually wanted to train as she was for him training with her.

Prussia completed a few pet projects she had started but scrapped most of them due to a lack of interest in actually completing any of them. She was considering what to do next when the phone rang.

She answered promptly, "Hello, Beilschmidt residence."

"Hello, Julia Maria Beilschmidt?"

"Yes," Prussia replied carefully entirely unused to hearing her full name. Even her friends had their nicknames for her.

"I'm phoning to inform you that you're being sent on a diplomacy mission to Canada."

Prussia's heart stopped.

Clearing her throat she responded levelly, "Why isn't Mr. Beilschmidt going? This seems pretty important."

"Not as much as you might think. It's not a meeting between leaders but we still wanted to send a representative for, as I said, diplomacy. We considered sending Mr. Beilschmidt but he is tied up with other affairs."

Prussia almost got the feeling that he was trying to tip-toe around the fact that she was a last resort, an unnecessary second choice, but she was glad she was a choice at all right now so she said nothing.

"Alright, what will I be doing?"

"We'll brief you at the office. Be here for 2:00p.m."

"Will do," replied Prussia and then the phone line went dead.

The phone line clicked as the man on the other end hung up. Prussia spent a moment completely still, holding the phone to her ear, trying to remember to breath. She succeeded quickly and slowly lowered the phone into its cradle. She took a number of carefully measured breaths.

An ache had formed in her chest. Prussia wanted to find out what happened to Canada so badly it hurt. For a while she had forgotten but now that it was brought back up she found she needed to know. Was he dead? He probably was. What had happened in his country though? Had they gotten a new personification or were they continuing on without one?

Wiping those questions from her mind Prussia went to change out of her pajama bottoms. If she was going out on business she thought she should look at least a bit more presentable.

* * *

*~*A/N So, Prussia has asked around about Canada but everyone has been wrapped up in their own issues much like Prussia. No one's had a reason to look into his sudden disappearance and those who had don't want to be talking to Prussia and she doesn't particularly want to talk to them either. She might ask America but he wouldn't tell her anyways. Also Prussia's Pajama's are fleece with little pink and yellow flowers. *~*


	6. Flying

The whole flight from Germany to Canada Prussia was on edge. Her fingers ceased tapping only when they were occupied by the pages of the light novel she's brought with her. The book was only able to keep her occupied for very short intervals. Prussia found she just couldn't keep her focus on what she was reading. Nervous energy made Prussia twitchy to the point where she almost went to pull a sword on the Flight Attendant when she asked if Prussia wanted anything.

There were a few things that prevented this embarrassment, first and foremost of these reasons was that Prussia hadn't carried a sword on her in years. Though she hadn't actually made an overt grab for the sword she didn't have Prussia was still extremely embarrassed that she'd drifted that far into her own head. Testily she snapped at the lady and then had a moment of regret. The moment was brief for Prussia had many thoughts swirling around in her head and all of them were more important to her than brief moment of impoliteness. On another day she would worry about it. Today she had other things to deal with.

As it turned out most of the things that were bothering Prussia would also have to wait for another day. Her flight ended up being delayed so she spent the night on a plane instead of in a hotel as was previously planned. To add to the discomfort that Prussia was already in she was too worked up to sleep so she had been awake for longer than she would have liked when she finally arrived in Canada. However, as she retrieved the single suitcase she had brought her tiredness all but evaporated.

Maybe the country representative would come meet her?! Maybe it would be the quiet blond she wanted to see, maybe he wouldn't remember her. Prussia frowned at her runaway thoughts. It made sense. Even if Canada somehow miraculously healed from his…injuries they were severe and there was serious head trauma. Who could ever forget the awesomeness that is, or was, Prussia though? Prussia wondered if someone else would be there to pick her up, or no one, or if he would be different if it was him and all these questions distracted her so that she walked right into another person.

Before she got back into her old training regimen the impact might have sent her falling but as it was Prussia took a sturdy step backwards onto the foot of another person. This is just getting ridiculous, thought Prussia, it's not even that crowded here.

"Ouch," winced the man who she stepped on while simultaneously the man she had run into spoke as well.

"Why, hello there!"

Prussia glanced the man she bumped into over he was built very similarly to her bruder but instead of blonde hair and blue eyes this man had brown hair and lovely beer bottle green eyes. He was a little bit taller than her bruder as well accomplishing the rare achievement of making Prussia feel short. She glared at him displeased with his tone before checking who the wimp she stepped on was.

He certainly wasn't very injured, adding to Prussia's less than favorable first impression of the man, for he was smiling with obviously great amusement at her irritation.

She turned away from him and back towards to broad man standing on the other side of her.

"You'll have to forgive me I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking."

"I suppose not," he said then added in a whisper, "I didn't really think you'd walk into me on purpose though I think my brother might."

Prussia looked over her shoulder the other man did bear a slight resemblance but no more than she did to her own brother, if she was being honest. He had lighter brown hair that was bleached at the ends and dyed to give it the appearance of turning silver, which, Prussia guessed, was cool if you didn't have naturally awesome hair.

Still smiling, the smaller brother asked her, "Would you perhaps be a Miss Julia Beilschmidt?"

Prussia was speechless, just who were these men?

Carefully she answered, "I am. Just who's asking?"

The larger brother smiled, "I'm Leaf and this is my brother Jay. We've been sent to escort you to your accommodations."

"I'm sure I could get myself there, but, the escort is appreciated."

"Alright, let's get this show on the road then shall we?"

The brothers offered to take her luggage for her but Prussia refused. As much as the offer was appreciated she had a firm set of beliefs around carrying and taking care of one's own stuff. Also she didn't really trust these random men but she knew she could take them out if she had to. Also Prussia had never actually been to Canada, much to her embarrassment, even after pining after its personification for so long, so she wasn't really too sure of how to get around. Of course she knew she could find her way alone, it was just that if these two really knew where they were going it would make things a lot easier.

The brothers lead her to a shiny black Kia. Prussia kept her suitcase with her as she slid into the backseat. The brothers got into the front of the car with Leaf in the driver's seat and Jay in the passenger's seat. The drive to the hotel was silent; Prussia once again became lost in her own thoughts.

Two sharp raps on the window beside her ear brought Prussia back to reality and also a scowl to her face. Jay smiled back at her and opened the door for her to get out.

Once she was checked in and they had escorted her to her room Leaf informed her that they would be back tomorrow morning to pick her up and take her to the meeting. Prussia closed the door and fastened all the locks before collapsing backwards onto the overly fluffy bed and letting out a deep breath.

Prussia spent the rest of the afternoon with CBC on the TV playing as background noise while she read up on recent Canadian history and politics. She had done some basic skimming research at home but figured looking into it a bit more couldn't hurt. After all, she wanted to make a good impression.

At supper time Prussia ordered up some take-out and actually watched what was on the television screen while she ate. Mostly it was the news but there was a surprizing amount of comedy shows on as well. Prussia did some light stretches before taking a quick shower and brushing her teeth. Once she was ready for bed she snuggled under the covers and let out one long sigh.

"Tomorrow I find out."

Prussia stared at the ceiling, her nervousness had become background buzz in her mind and after she rolled onto her side she fell quickly asleep.


	7. Car Rides and Meetings

In the morning a loud ringing jolted Prussia out of her sleep. Quickly she answered the call. It was a wake up message reminding her to get up. I probably needed that, Prussia thought, I was sleeping so deeply. She jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom to begin brushing out her tangled mane of hair.

Normally she braided it before bed to keep it from getting too out of control but sometimes it just slipped her mind. Prussia was very used to the feel of her hair. As she worked out the snarls in her hair Prussia stared blearily at her reflection. It had been so long…

She still missed him. Prussia missed how fighting didn't daunt him but he didn't allow it to define him, she missed his quiet calm laugh and how it hid a passionate side. At least today would give her some closure, if nothing else. Prussia paused in her efforts towards her hair and touched the circles under her eyes. She wished for a moment that she looked better, then immediately gave her head a rough shake. That was not a thing to be thinking at all, Prussia knew that she was badass, awesome, and devastatingly beautiful in her own way. She smirked at her reflection. Much better.

Prussia finished up with her morning routine and opened up her suitcase. The meeting wasn't to be too formal, mostly symbolic, so Prussia wanted to look nice but hadn't brought her "best" dress. A pair of dark grey dress pants and low black heels is paired with a loose cut, long sleeved blouse. Prussia donned her outfit and checked herself over in the mirror.

"Good," she said and then proceeded out the door with a thin case holding the relevant papers and other necessities for the day. Checking to make sure the room wasn't in total disarray before she left Prussia gave it a pass and stepped out into the hallway. The carpet was relatively new but in one of those gaudy patterns that very few people would ever actually choose to decorate their home with. Prussia let herself have a moment of immaturity and made a game of stepping only on the red splotches and none of the yellow as she made her way towards the lobby.

Once in the lobby Prussia stood around for only a few minutes before a familiar face showed up.

"All ready to go?" asked Jay in a cheery voice.

"Of course," replied Prussia.

They climbed into the same car from the previous night this time with Prussia riding in the front passenger seat while Jay sat in the back. The ride was quiet all of the occupants of the vehicle seemed lost in thought. Office buildings passed and people on the sidewalk all looked incredibly normal. For a day that held so much significance to Prussia it sure felt like nothing at all was happening. As they neared what Prussia was sure was their destination the sun shone on the steps of the building like it was trying to be some kind of Holy Light. Prussia scoffed at it.

Jay turned around and raised his eyebrows at her. Prussia gave no reply and turned her head back towards the building. It was relatively unimpressive but Prussia supposed she was used to the castles of her homeland and it wasn't really Canada's fault if the country showed up after the world's castle faze. Leaf pulled the car into what was obviously a reserved parking space around the side of the building.

"We're here!" said Leaf unnecessarily.

"Right," Prussia said, obviously unimpressed.

They all piled out of the car and Leaf led the way into the building with Jay keeping close to Prussia. She wanted to trip him but considering he hadn't actually done anything wrong figured it might not be the best idea. They went inside and the interior of the building was cool. Prussia wished her top layer of clothing were a little more substantial, durable like proper uniform used to be. Prussia left out an inaudible sigh; she didn't really want to be stuck like some others always wishing for the way things were in the past. She wanted to appreciate the past and still recognize that it was passed and the present was what she was dealing with.

The group proceeded through a few sparsely populated hallways with Leaf or Jay giving a nod to someone every now and then until they came to a door. It opened into a small office with large windows set up like a conference room. There was a medium sized table surrounded by four chairs with a fifth one off to the side. Most of the wall across from the door was made up of windows looking down onto the street below. Prussia was pretty sure they had some kind of tint on them but didn't think it was a very dark one because she hadn't noticed when she was outside. On the wall to her left there was a door Prussia couldn't really fathom what use it might have but she was sure it was there for a reason.

"Alright we'll be waiting in the entrance area for you when you're done," said Leaf opening the door and stepping out followed by his brother, "You can wait right here I'm sure they'll be along shortly." Then he left shutting the door behind him.

Prussia frowned at the door. She didn't think that was quite proper but then again neither of them had actually seemed terribly official. After analyzing the layout of the room Prussia decided to take the chair closest to the window on the side of the table that would put her back to the door. It was the easiest to see everything happening in the room from that spot, also the weak sunlight that did shine in through the window was warm and the room was a bit chillier than Prussia liked.

Situating herself in the chair and placing her case beside her chair Prussia waited. It was a tricky thing to do because the room was really plain and her view of the street offered nothing interesting either. At least the walls weren't white. They were painted a kind of peachy yellow that was at just the right shade to actually make the room seem warm. Prussia tapped her fingers in the rhythm of a long forgotten lullaby on the hard wood of the table. Was she really that early?

Just as she was about to get up and look out the door said door burst opened and there stood a rather frazzled but still familiar blond.

Prussia sucked in a sharp breath. The sunlight illuminated his hair reminding her of the gold spun of straw from the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale. His eyes were as oddly purple as she remembered them and everything about him was just so perfect and Prussia wanted to jump up and hug him. She stayed frozen in her seat though and the two stared at each other until an older man with thinning brown hair showed up behind Canada.

"Ehem," the older man cleared his throat loudly and Canada jumped. Prussia would have laughed if the man didn't look so serious, in fact his face almost made it more comedic and she was tempted to laugh anyways. She controlled the urge.

Canada red in the face sat opposite Prussia with his head tilted down like a reprimanded child.

"Standing in doorways in not very polite Mr. Williams," the man scolded as if Canada wasn't fully aware of that fact. Canada nodded and kept his eyed turned towards the table.

"Anyways, I'm…" and he introduced himself in the blandest manner possible. The rest of the meeting was tediously long and drawn out by an unnecessary number of formalities, at least, to Prussia they seemed so but she supposed that since that was mostly the point of her trip it was actually pretty important. It was still boring and Prussia was more focused on Matthew, who had introduced himself with his full name after the older man.

Eventually the meeting ended and the man bustled out after arranging a meet-up between only her and Matthew the next day. Prussia could hardly contained her excitement and wanted so much to talk to Matthew but the man bustled the blond out with him and Prussia had to settled with an handshake and the knowledge that she would see him again tomorrow.

After slowly making her way back to the entrance Prussia found the brothers waiting by the door. They waved her over and Prussia switched her case into her other hand and waved back.

Jay proceeded to insist that she allow him to treat her to lunch, grudgingly she accepted, and he promised he had a great place in mind. Prussia wasn't really all that concerned about it; she was still too excited to find that he was alive! He seemed to remember her too! At least she thought it seemed like he did. Oh well, she would find out tomorrow.

Prussia spent the rest of the car ride in silence, lost in thought, and the trip was very much like the one made hours previous but now the day seemed somehow brighter to Prussia.


End file.
